Buffett's Berkshire buys more shares in BNSF; now owns 17.8 pct

JOSH FUNK

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, January 16, 2008

AP Business Writer

Warren Buffett's company has added to its stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

The billionaire's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. now owns 17.8 percent of the nation's second-largest railroad after buying 948,800 more shares on Monday and Tuesday, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

Berkshire reported purchases of BNSF stock three times this month, and the Omaha-based holding company now owns 62.5 million shares of stock in the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad.

The latest filings say Berkshire paid between $77.69 and $78.18 for the BNSF shares this week.

All of Berkshire's BNSF stock is held by National Indemnity Co., which is one of Berkshire's insurance subsidiaries. Because the purchases have been made by Berkshire subsidiaries, it's not clear whether Buffett himself made the decision to buy.

Berkshire officials do not typically comment on the company's stock holdings, and a spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a message left Thursday morning.

Still, Buffett and Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger discussed their interest in railroads at last year's annual meeting. They said railroads have become an appealing investment because they are healthier today than in past years, something Buffett and Munger said they were slow to realize because of past poor performance in the industry.

Last year Berkshire also invested in two other railroad companies, Norfolk Southern Corp. and Union Pacific Corp., but Berkshire reduced its investments in those two railroads in the second half of 2007.

Last March, Berkshire reported owning 10.5 million shares of Union Pacific stock. A November filing showed that Berkshire reduced its Union Pacific stake to 4.5 million shares by the end of September.

That same November filing said Berkshire held 1.9 million shares of Norfolk Southern as of Sept. 30. Previously, Berkshire had said it owned nearly 6.4 million shares of Norfolk Southern.

Berkshire owns furniture, insurance, jewelry and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms and has major investments in such companies as The Coca-Cola Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.